


a revisionist history

by mieraspeller



Series: Arranged Marriage AU [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:38:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6716524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mieraspeller/pseuds/mieraspeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A canon divergent AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ~We could have had it allllll~ was my working theme song for this fic.
> 
> The italicized bit at the beginning is directly lifted from the show.
> 
> If I've missed any tags, please let me know!

_"Hey, we said no weapons!" Finn exclaims._

_"I was told there wouldn't be," Lincoln replies._

_"It's too late now," Clarke says, giving Finn a look. They step forward, but Lincoln grabs Finn's jacket, holding him back._

_"She goes alone."_

_Finn turns to Clarke, but she stops him, looking at him reassuringly._

_"I'll be fine."_

_"Clarke-"_

_"Hey. It's time to do better."_

_He nods reluctantly, and Clarke walks to meet the grounder leader in the middle of the bridge._ \-- She'll be fine. She has the backing of the Council, and five people she trusts at her back. --

_The grounder woman looks Clarke up and down quickly. "Your name is Clarke?"_

_"Yes."_

_"I'm Anya."_

_Clarke nods and holds out her hand, but pulls back when Anya gives her a bemused look._

_"I think we got off to a rough start." She says instead. "But we want to find a way to live together in peace."_

_Anya.. Does not look impressed. "I understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end."_

_"What? No we didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason-"_

_"No reason?" Anya demands. Her men shift restlessly in the background and Clarke tries not to look intimidated. "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground."_

_Clarke furrows her brow. "The flares? No, that was a signal meant for our families. We had no idea -"_

_"You're invaders. Your ship landed in our territory."_

_"We didn't know anyone was here," Clarke says quickly. "We thought the ground was uninhabited."_

_Anya sneers. "You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him! These are all acts of war."_

_Clarke swallows. Nods. "I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this."_

_Anya head tilts slightly in a nod. "Lincoln says there are more of you coming down. Warriors."_

_"The Guard. Yes, but also farmers, doctors, engineers. We can help each other. But not if we're at war."_

_"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us? That they'll respect the terms you and I agree on."_

"I only have limited authority from our leader.” Clarke says carefully. “I can promise you we will not attack you and that we will provide you with medical aid, in return for you helping us through the winter and letting us stay on your land."

“So you expect my people to feed, clothe and shelter yours, just for the promise that you won’t attack us?” 

“We have food, water, and skilled people on our ship. We will need your help building shelter for us,” she says, gesturing at herself, Finn and Octavia, “but once our people are here, we can work. And we would be happy to share our supplies, and of course, hunt and gather more food for everyone.” 

Anya crosses her arms and looks at Clarke, considering. "What about our enemies. Will your warriors fight with us?"

"I -- I can't say. Chancellor Jaha didn’t give me authority to speak on that matter. They‘ll start arriving in a matter of days. If we can start this alliance on good terms, I'm sure he would be happy to speak to you about other ways our peoples can benefit each other if they aren't at war."

“We have an agreement then,” Anya says, and Clarke looks at her in astonishment. The woman actually cracks a tiny smile. “When your leader arrives, send a message with Lincoln, and we will arrange a meeting with our Commander.” Anya turns, then looks back at Clarke. "I believe this Alliance will be in both of our favors. Speak with your leader and we’ll meet again at sundown to see what we can do to keep our new allies alive through the snow." She looks up at the grey sky in warning.

Clarke nods. "We’ll be here." She turns and walks back to the others, unable to stop from grinning. 

Lincoln squeezes Octavia’s hand, then jogs after the other grounders as Clarke nears them. 

"So?" Octavia asks.

"I think this is gonna work," Clarke says and Octavia grins back at her. "Come on, back to camp. We need to get Jaha on the line."

 

 

When they walk back into camp around noon, everyone goes quiet, watching and whispering to each other.

“Good news!” Clarke calls. “We’re in talks with the grounders to make peace. They’ve agreed to help us through the winter, and to stop the fighting between us!” 

The cheering is half hearted at first, but then Jasper comes around the tents with a metal jug. “And to Monty’s newest batch to celebrate Unity Day!” 

At that, everyone cheers and even Bellamy grins. Octavia pulls him into a hug and grins around at the rest of them. “I feel amazing! And like I want to sleep for a week.” 

“Adrenaline,” Clarke says with a commiserating grin. “Come on, we should try and reach the Ark. The Unity Day pageant will be starting soon .” She nods at Bellamy and the two of them head off to the communications setup. 

“How’s it feel? To not have to worry about someone shooting you in your sleep.” Finn looks at Raven and Octavia with a slanted grin. 

“What did you even do?” Octavia says, rolling her eyes and heading off the join the crowd around Jasper. 

Finn gives Raven a wounded look, but she just shakes her head, magnanimous now that they aren’t all on the verge of panic over survival. She loops her arm around his waist. “Come on, we’re celebrating, remember?”

 

 

Octavia doesn’t stick around to watch the pageant. She takes one swallow of moonshine, which is enough to make her throat feel raw, then gathers up a spear and some rations before going over to the guard post where Bellamy is sitting, holding onto his gun like a security blanket. 

“Sick of drinking already?” he asks with a small smile. 

She shrugs. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. How’d the talk with the Ark go?” 

“Nothing changes. Jaha will meet with the Grounder Commander when he lands. He said that they should land in two days. In the meantime, we learn all we can from the grounders.” 

Octavia nods. “Great. I’m going to meet Lincoln.” 

Bellamy grimaces at her, and she crosses her arms. “You just said they want us to learn. That’s what I’m gonna do.”

“This Alliance isn’t official yet. He has no reason to --” 

“Bellamy, if he wanted to hurt me, he could have just stayed quiet when I cut myself with his poisoned knife!” Octavia explodes. “He’s helping us! If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t even have this alliance!” she turns and stalks towards the gate, ignoring Bellamy shouting after her. 

Miller moves to stop her and she whips out her knife. “Do. Not.” He holds up his hand and backs up. 

She slips out, glancing turning back to glare at her brother once more, before hurrying away. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Hey, weren’t you guys supposed to be at the bridge already?” Octavia says, looking startled. She steps back to the tree she just passed and looks at Clarke and Bellamy. Bellamy swings towards her, glaring. 

“If you’d been at camp, you’d know -” 

“Bellamy,” Clarke interrupts him, putting a hand on his arm. “We haven’t been able to reach the Ark since our first meeting with the Grounders -” 

“Trikru,” Octavia corrects, and Clarke winces when Monroe scoffs. 

“Right.”

“We could postpone-” 

“You can’t, Anya is already waiting for you. If you back out now, it’ll look like you aren’t serious,” Octavia cuts in again. 

“ _We,_ ” Bellamy emphasises. “And you’re not supposed to be here.”

Before they can start another argument about autonomy, Clarke steps between them, hands up placatingly. “Octavia, we already told them it was just me, Bellamy, and three guards.” 

“Fine,” Octavia rolls her eyes and stomps off through the underbrush. 

“I hope that’s not all she’s learned from her grounder,” Connor says with a smirk. “Oh. Uh. Sorry, Bellamy.” 

Bellamy shakes his head. “I hope you’re good at faking it, Princess,” he says, before falling silent as they reach the bridge.

“Anya,” Clarke says, nodding at her. 

“Clarke. This is your second?” She says, looking at Bellamy. 

“We’re more like co-leaders,” Clarke says slowly, glancing at Bellamy, then back to Anya. “We discussed the basics last time we met, but we wanted to get a more in depth view of what this alliance will cover. We want to have as much information as possible when the Chancellor gets here. As much as we can without your Commander and our Chancellor present, of course. He has said that he will have to wait to discuss aiding you against your enemies in person.” 

Anya looks amused for some reason, but she nods, then gestures for them to follow. “We need to move. We’re too exposed here.” 

Clarke glances at Bellamy, who nods slightly. “Lead the way.” 

She begins walking, her three warriors falling in step, and Clarke and Bellamy follow, flanked by Monroe, Miller and Connor. “Our custom to seal an alliance is a feast and a union. After which, we will begin our part of the deal -- helping you set up a new camp and making sure you don’t starve.”

“Ah,” Bellamy says, dodging around a tree and jogging a few steps closer to Anya. “A union? What do you mean by that?” 

“A union,” she says slowly, giving him a sideways glance and speaking as if to a small child. “One person from both clans to be allied joining together in a life long partnership.”

“A wedding?” Monroe blurts out, wrinkling her nose in distaste. She stops walking abruptly when one of Anya’s warriors turns, and puts a hand on her sword. 

“Too good for us, sky girl?” she says, taking another step toward Monroe. Anya casually turns and shoves her back with a hand on her chest. 

“Zosh,” she growls, and the woman subsides with a sneer.

“I apologize,” Clarke says hurriedly, feeling a little short of breath from the ground eating strides the grounders took. “None of us are at a point in our lives where we’ve considered that kind of decision. No offense was intended.”

Anya looks back at their ragged group, lips downturned. “That is our way. If you wish to wait until the rest your people arrive, and find one among them who would accept this honor, we’ll delay our alliance until then.” 

“Thank you for your patience,” Bellamy says, and he manages to say it without gritting his teeth, so Clarke pats his arms absently. 

“We’ll discuss it and get back to you,” Clarke adds, and Anya nods. “You mentioned moving camp?” 

“Yes,” Anya says with a firm nod. ”You’re too close to Mount Weather. They‘ll already know you’re here and undefended. I give it six days at the longest before they come for you.” 

This, predictably, starts up another round of protests. 

“Guys! Guys!” Bellamy shouts. “One moment, Anya.” He herds the others a few steps away and says, low but harsh, “Shut the hell up. You can say whatever you want when we’re alone, but right now we’re here to talk this through because they know more about survival on the ground than we do.” 

Clarke leans in, adding firmly, “You’re making us look like undisciplined idiots who should be left to die, instead of a people worthy of working with. We’re not going to do anything we can’t all live with, but we have to actually _hear them out_ before we can negotiate.” Monroe looks taken aback at Clarke’s tone, or maybe at the fact that she’s agreeing with Bellamy on anything, but nods grudgingly, and Miller and Connor mutter agreements. 

“So, Mount Weather?” 

“Your camp is right on the border of one of the Reaper tunnels, and they and the mountain men will kill or take you without warning or hesitation.” Anya pauses then smirks at them. “Not to mention it's too far from a reliable source of water. This is your first lesson of survival here -- you need water to live.” 

“That I can understand. Could you point out a few suitable places that aren’t on anyone’s territory?” Clarke slows and reaches for her bag, pulling out the rolled up map. 

“This is us,” Bellamy points out, squinting in the waning light, “And here’s Mount Weather.” Anya peers at the map, and uses her finger to follow the line of the river. 

“Our village is about… here.” She taps her chin, then says. “There is a lake here. I’ll have some of my trackers show you places after the union feast.” 

Clarke nods, cutting a quick glance at Bellamy, before rolling up the map and stowing it away. “Thanks. Is there anything else we should know before the, uh, union feast?” 

“Like, what are Reapers?” Miller asks. 

“Be glad you don’t know,” one of the other warriors, a man this time, says, mouth curled into a snarl. 

“This is Urcell. He lost both his brothers to Reapers,” Anya says. “Most of us have lost family or friends to them. Come, we’ll talk as we walk. You should get back to your people and discuss this new delay to our alliance.” 

Clarke grits her teeth. “Reapers?” 

“They are monsters. They fight for no reason that we can find, and steal our warriors for their flesh,” Zosh says, grimacing. “Most of them look monstrous, and will fight or chase you until one of you dies.” 

“Seriously?” Monroe mutters. 

“We can show you if you like,” Urcell says with a mean grin. 

“We’ll take your word for it,” Connor says quickly, glancing at Bellamy. 

“Thanks for the warning.” Bellamy looks around at the more familiar surroundings they’ve come back to in the dark. “If there’s nothing else we can learn from each other until the union feast, then we’ll head back to our camp. We’ll send a message as soon as we can contact the Chancellor.” 

Anya nods and turns, jerks her head for her warriors to follow. Clarke blinks after them, realizing that the third warrior, a short dark haired girl, more heavily armored and armed, with a thick line of black over her eyes similar to Anya's, never even spoke. 

“Reapers, Mountain men and arranged marriages. And I thought the Ark was bad,” Bellamy grumbles, knocking Clarke out of her thoughts. He waves them ahead of him. “Let’s go see if the radio is back up.” 

 

\-------

 

When they get back to camp, they still can’t raise the Ark. It starts snowing again, just as Anya had predicted, but knowing ahead of time didn’t make it feel any less ominous, and they, along with Raven and Monty, discuss what the grounders told them, huddled around the bonfire in the middle of camp. Around them, their people are still relaxing, playing games and drinking to celebrate.

“But like, marriage? For real?” Monty asks, brows furrowed. “Can’t we just wait until the first drop ship gets here, and let Chancellor Jaha take one for the team? We can last two days, right?”

Raven snorts. “Yeah, we’ll let them waltz in after we did all the hard work.” 

“I agree with you,” Bellamy says, nodding at Raven. “But I’m not ready to marry a total stranger. So I vote we wait.” 

“Same,” Monroe says emphatically. 

“I don’t want to lose anyone else,” Clarke says, holding up a hand before anyone can protest, “but, like Monty said, I think we can last another day or two.” And that’s the end of that. “In the meantime, though, we should have half the camp start gathering everything useful to move, and the rest continue gathering and hunting food. We’ve got to keep our energy up in this cold, especially if we’re going to carrying our belongings who knows how far.” 

“We’ll start first thing, then. You organize the camp, and I’ll take the hunting parties,” Bellamy says. “Jones, Monroe, Miller, you’ll be with me. Lincoln showed you where we can hunt without running into traps? Good. Find anyone else good with a spear and let them know. Raven and Monty will know more about what we can take of the radio equipment and the ship.” 

He steps away from the bonfire, holding up his hands and letting out a piercing whistle. “Listen up!” He yells once he’s gotten their attention. “We’re going to be moving out soon. Anyone with engineering, medical, or technical skills, you’re going to following Clarke’s orders and figuring out what we can take with us. Everyone else with me! We need enough food to last us a couple days, and we’re not gonna be able to depend on the exodus ships to feed us. We’re moving out at first light, so get some rest!” 

Everyone slowly gets up and moving, huddling together as the snow continues to fall. There’s a few muttered complaints about moving and Bellamy sends Miller and Monroe out to spread the word about the reapers, and the water situation. 

Clarke comes up to stand by his side. “Is Octavia still with Lincoln?”

He nods, shrugging. “Probably. You heard her earlier. She doesn’t even think of us as her people.” 

“It was just…” At Bellamy’s look, Clarke changes tactics. “She’s adapting faster than any of us,” she says with a small smile. “It’s really amazing how much we’ve all changed. I can’t believe it’s only been a couple weeks since we dropped.” 

“Me neither,” he agrees. “I can’t wait to have a real roof over our heads.” 

Clarke nods. “And learn from their healers -- like the cure for that poison on their arrows.” 

“Hey, guys,” Finn says, hobbling up to them on his makeshift crutch and putting a hand on Clarke’s shoulder. She turns, shaking him off subtly. But for once he isn’t giving her the wounded puppy eyes. Instead he, Raven and Monty are all staring at the sky. Where a bright light is heading towards the ground. 

“The Exodus ship?” Monty says.

“Your mom’s early,” Bellamy says, grinning at Clarke, and she grins back brightly. 

Then the light on the ship flickers. 

“Why haven’t they ejected the parachute?” Raven demands, grasping at Clarke’s sleeve. 

“I don’t -- they’re coming in too fast,” she says, helplessly, and all of them flinch when the ship drops out of sight. The earth shudders slightly. 

“They weren’t even supposed to drop yet,” Raven says faintly. She covers her mouth and leans back against Finn, who’s staring over at Clarke. 

“Come on, we need to get over there,” Miller says, coming up behind them. 

“It’s the middle of the night, and it’s snowing. We haven’t slept or eaten. We can’t risk all of our lives when… “ Bellamy trails off, looking at Clarke apologetically. 

“No, you’re right. Who was supposed to be on guard tonight? I’ll go ahead with them and you can follow us in the morning.” She turns to Raven. “How far would you say that was?” 

“I -- Maybe a couple kilometers?” “Clarke, come on -” “My mother is on that ship, Bellamy,” she says, voice cracking. “I’m going.” 

He nods reluctantly, and hitches his gun back over his shoulder. “Fine. Let’s move out.” 

She looks at him in surprise, then nods. “Okay. Round up some volunteers to go with us and we’ll head out.” Miller glances at Bellamy for approval, waits for his nod, then heads off to send out the night guard.

“Come on, Clarke, you should take your own advice,” Monty says. “At least eat, and we’ll go. 

“You won’t be any use to us if you’re dead on your feet.” 

Clarke nods and heads to her tent, the sight of the Exodus ship’s light going out replaying in her head.

 

\----------

“Oh my god.” 

“Octavia?” 

“I saw the crash,” she says, taking a careful step forward, eyes roaming over the wreckage. “What…” 

“The Exodus ship.” 

“I should talk to Lincoln, see what we should tell the Trigedakru.” Octavia says, finally, voice faint as they look over the wreckage. Raven and a few others are carefully combing through looking for survivors. Clarke is standing back looking shell shocked and Octavia winces as she remembers Clarke’s mother was on board.

Bellamy whirls on her. “No. He’ll tell the rest, and then they’ll just kill us all! There’s no reason for them to ally with us without the Guard --” 

“Lincoln wouldn’t do that!” Octavia argues. “He wants this alliance as much as we do.”

“Octavia-” 

“Why can’t you just trust me!” She says, shoving him away. She takes a deep breath. “Anyways, I think I know what he’ll say. We go to Anya, tell her that we decided who’ll be getting married. I’ll volunteer, and then the Alliance will be sealed and they can’t back out.” 

Bellamy stares at her in horror. “Octavia, no, we are _not_ doing that--” 

“It’s really not your choice.” Octavia says, voice shaking. 

“We don’t have a choice,” Clarke says, and the siblings turn to see her, face pale, but set in a stubborn frown. “We have no idea if there are any more ships coming down, or what the situation is on the Ark. If we don’t do this, then the Alliance is dead and they either kill or leave us to die from the winter, or Reapers. We don’t have a choice,” she repeats, louder this time. “We’ve seen how many there are, and they’re already allied with twelve other clans. We can’t fight them.” 

Bellamy stares between the two women helplessly. “I’m just trying to keep everyone alive.”

“This is the only way to make sure of that. I choose this,” Octavia says to both of them. “I’m not going to let anyone else die.” 


End file.
